Israel’s neighbors mired in feud over Qatar’s ties to terror

Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East continue to sling mud at one another in their quarrel over Qatar.

At an Arab League meeting in Cairo today, a Qatari diplomat claimed that “dogs” backed by “some regimes” are waging a media campaign against his country. This remark was a thinly veiled jab at Gulf countries that drew a sharp rebuke from other attendees of the meeting.

Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Soltan bin Saad al-Muraikhi, delivered the remarks at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday, angering Saudi and Egyptian representatives.

After his speech, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry rejected what he said were “baseless insults.”

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates cut ties with Qatar in June over its close ties to Iran and its alleged support for terror. Qatar has denied supporting extremism, saying the crisis is politically motivated.

Qatar has also recently been confronted with issues related to Israel, whose Communications Minister, Ayoub Kara, announced in August an official request to revoke the credentials of journalists employed by Qatar’s state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera. Israel is also seeking to completely shut down the company’s Jerusalem headquarters based on accusations that the Qatari media outlet supports terror